Lance Hahn of J Church (SF/Austin Punk band) RIP
Swayze
14,705 Posts
some of you on this board may know of J Church, especially if you were going to punk shows in the 90s or if you were collecting any sort of vinyl (Lance was quite prolific as a narrative songwriter and I'd venture to say there are well over a hundred J Church related singles out there)but here is the story --http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/s...nce_hahn_1.htmlR.I.P Lance HahnBy Joe Gross | Sunday, October 21, 2007, 10:20 PM Austin-based musician, journalist and punk rock icon Lance Hahn died Sunday after a long illness brought on by complications from kidney disease. He was 40.Hahn was best known for the prolific rock band J Church, which since its inception in 1992 produced dozens of singles, EPs, and albums of sharp, melodic songs mixed with punk attitude. As Hahn was quoted in 1995, ???A lot of people write trying to keep track of all the records we put out. I can???t even remember.??? (The band was only three years old at the time.)Hahn also played in the punk band Cringer from 1984 to 1991, played guitar for the rock musician Beck in 1994, owned and operated the Honey Bear record label, was a long-time contributor to the international punk rock magazine ???Maximum Rock n Roll,??? and published the zine ???Some Hope and Some Despair.??? Many unfamiliar with Hahn???s music knew him as a manager at the Vulcan Video store on South Congress.At the time of his death, Hahn was near completion on a book about the history of anarchist punk bands, portions of which have been excerpted in ???Maximum Rock n Roll.???Born in Hawaii, Hahn was of the generation for whom punk rock was neither a just a genre nor a passing fashion, but a way of looking at the world. ???He claimed to be the first person in Hawaii with a Mohawk,??? said his partner Liberty Lidz. His band Cringer was one of the first thoroughly documented punk bands in Hawaii and - as Hahn put it on the Honey Bear webpage - the first band of his ???that anyone really cares about.???After Hahn, by then a California resident, formed J Church, the band became a staple of the San Francisco punk rock community. The group???s catchy music, do-it-yourself work ethic and Situationist leanings were both a sharp contrast and perfect fit with hundreds of heavier or poppier acts. Hahn and Lidz moved to Austin in 2000 so she could attend grad school. The Austin version of J Church included Austin punk stalwarts Chris Pfeffer on drums and Ben White on bass. (David DiDonato served as J Church???s second guitarist from 2002 to 2005.) These two line-ups produced three albums, a split LP and additional material.Hahn was also profoundly well-liked by the American and international punk community. There were benefits held for Hahn around the world after his and Lidz???s apartment burned down in 2002, as chronicled here.This summer, five independent labels (No Idea, Cat Food Money, Vinehell, Jerk Off and Tic Tac Totally) released ???Let???s Do It For Lance!,??? a J Church/Cringer tribute CD to help defray Hahn???s mounting medical bills. (He did not have health insurance at the time of his death.) More information about Hahn and J Church can be found at their webpage and MySpace page.Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.He will be missed.
Comments
I can't tell you how many times I saw J Church open for someone at Gilman between 92-95. I bought their first 12 singles via Blacklist (where he volunteered) until giving up after the 13th got away from me. I'll dig these and the Steel Pole Bathtub/Unwound split 45 on Honeybear out tonight in memorium.
as for me-- i first got into j church from listening to wprb princeton a dozen years ago--and then ordered singles from advertisements in zines.
he was a darn good writer and knew how to create imagery and create these personal narratives that touched on all sorts of subjects (working , pop culture, biking in cities, literature, relationships, political ideologies, socialism, health, etc)
the music was not typical pop punk either. during thier mid-90s heyday, he had a guy that was from a group called a minor forest (kind of a progressive math rock/"post-rock" band with some hardcore influence. but the sound was poppy and the songs were likened to another san fran band-- jawbreaker (who also shared a member of j church at some point)
he was also an asian in a prodominately caucasian scene--and had a band called cringer (also good) when he lived in hawaii.
he seemed to be heavily into a lot of different forms of music--particularly free jazz (as evidence of their myspace page).
Rest In Peace
I too, saw them at Gilman a few times, along with Fifteen and some other local groups. Those were some good times.
I don't know how in the hell he was able to work so hard and be consistent, but it was great to know that if you wanted to work hard by making the effort, you could do it. In a way his mentality was "if no one else is going to do it, I'll do it four times as much" and who wasn't impressed by that?
Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to see him live or meet him in person, but one could tell he was someone who was very much level headed.
Actually, Craig was posting that Lance worked at Sound Exchange the last year they were open, which was like 5 years ago.
RIP Lance